Ballast Point – Miramar

They’re 3 for $ 5 beer sample deal is great! Their research and development beers are surprisingly excellent!
Also grab a bite to eat if you have time, they’re food (ballast point burger is what I had) is ridiculously good!
We had Autumn as our server and she was so helpful with which beers to try!

Like most breweries that are booming out in SD, Ballast Point made the move towards a grander scale. A much grander scale modestly speaking.
I remember first visiting their brewery in 2013 when it was located in some sort of business space. So awkward you wouldn’t think they made the most awesomest beer here. But it was fun, small and thoroughly enjoyable with a cute little patio area to enjoy the company you’re with and craft beer.
This Miramar location is its big brother. It’s Giant, like walking into the Union Square of breweries. The patio has its own bar and servers outside to assist with your dining experience. Tables outside must be reserved though so call in for that. Lots of people watching to do too.
The bar inside is totally accommodating. You can sit at the bar or stand in a separate line to order up some beer and food. Way convenient when you don’t want to wait for a server to come by cuz it can take a while. For those that know me, I’m very impatient with my beer. especially good beer. So of course I stood in that line and ordered a few glasses. I am not above double fisting. Ever. So that we did. Had some of their newer brews. Visited their gift shop and took some cold ones home too. So thoughtful.
I like this brewery cuz i LOVE their beer. But this location, gauged solely on how busy they get, should probably hire more wait staff to avoid long wait times.

First time here … got rave reviews from our neighbor so we decided to make the extra drive here (rather than Scripps Ranch) to check it out.
The bartender was a bit slow to acknowledge us and maybe after 10 minutes came over to take our order. Then, all was cool. We ordered 7 tasters between us and that was plenty!
I’m not an IPA fan but my husband is. Surprisingly, both of us decided our favorite was the Victory at Sea (Imperial Porter) w/​Coconut. Close second was the V-​a-​S Nitro. LOVE that Nitro… makes for such a smooth taste.
We were here in between lunch & dinner so only had a pretzel. It was a nice accompaniment and both the cheese & the mustard were yummy.
Definitely worth going back to try more. Yummm!

Damn, this place is the BOMB! Last time I went to Ballast Point it was to a small tasting room. I thought their beers were tasty. They must be since the Miramar restaurant complex thing is on «fleek,» as the young kids say.
The food is on point, and so is the gift shop. I like the nautical theme that they carry through for all their beers/​gear. I guess a ballast is some kind of thing that goes on a boat? Oh yeah, and of course the beers are tasty. I’m a big fan of that grapefruit sculpin. Yum.
Definitely make a reservation so you don’t have to wait. Unless you want an excuse to wait. Then you can sit around in the lobby and drink beers. Nothing wrong with that.

Since I am a NorCal guy, I was completely «blown away» by the size of Ballast Point facility, the extensive number of beers, the quality of beer, food and establishment. I arrived with my son a little after 6 on Saturday night. To say the place was «hoppin» is an understatement — it was near riot! People were packed everywhere having a good time laughing it up and everyone had a glass of beer in their hand! Did I die and go to heaven?
The food was very good. My favorite was the duck confit nachos. I also ordered fish tacos because I have this «thing» with fish tacos right now. I do not want to leave San Diego until I have discovered the best fish tacos. They are not at Ballast Point. The fish was fresh, but not seasoned well — and the corn tortillas fell apart. Momentos is still my choice.
Compare the San Diego beer houses with NorCal? NorCal has smaller establishments, fewer beers (some of dubious quality) and hit’n miss bar food. San Diego is definitely a beer lover’s paradise! You may have come here to see the zoo, or possibly Balboa park — but having a meal at Ballast Point should be on your list. It is an experience that will cause your NorCal brain to do a reset on that area which calibrates the quality of a brew pub. I am humbled.

My lucky night! What a sweet surprise to come to Ballast Point and see NINE different flavors of Victory at Sea on the menu. My friends and I of course had to try all nine flavors: bananas foster, peppermint, ginger bread, maple bacon, cereal, coconut, Oreo, mole, peanut butter.
I enjoy exploring different breweries around Miramar, but Ballast Point is my go to brewery. The staple beers are amazing, it’s open late, and there always seems to be new beers to try. If you start getting the munchies, their fries hit the spot. I’ve had other things on the menu and it can be a hit or a miss. Stick with the beers, get the fries if you want something to munch on, and you really can’t go wrong at Ballast!

Thank you, Ty, for making my first experience awesome!
I’ve been meaning to come here, and I finally had that chance last night. First off, their variety is awesome! I got the «victory of sea» flight, which is 3 for $ 8 and a flight of the other flavors, which was 3 for $ 5. Our server was Ty, and he was very accommodating. He asked my friend and I what we liked and didn’t, and in the end, gave us great recommendations. We were happy with everything we chose. My favorites were the bananas foster and watermelon dorado!
As for the place itself, it’s spacious and has a modern vibe to it. There’s outdoor and indoor seating, which is first come first serve unless you’re eating at the restaurant. We came on a Friday night around 9pm and found a table right away. It’s a fun and upbeat atmosphere, and the service is top-​notch. Their tours are also free (but without samples). Overall, I would definitely come back to explore their menu.

Easy to make an OpenTable reservation here. Not so very easy to get seated right away during lunchtime. Strange because there were plenty of open tables. Perhaps not enough open servers? Possibly likely because it sure took quite a while to get some service.
When we did eventually get service, it was ok. Not outstanding, but ok. We ordered some tasters and some truffle fries to start. The truffle fries took what felt like forever to get to our table. So it wasn’t forever, but it was a good 10 – 15 minutes after we ordered, especially frustrated since we were seated right next to the kitchen and could see the plating of fries was nothing complicated. Brews came straight away.
I was really happy with my mussel dish. Really great flavors. Nice bread to dip in the sauce. Great tasting sausage.

Langston Hughes used to say «Life is fine, fine as wine, life is fine»
Well, beer makes it better:))).
Great hidden place for beer lovers.
Great staff great everything!
Cheers!!!

I’ve stopped in here a few times after a long day and it seems that everyone else has the same agenda. It gets packed, quick! Your best bet is to either go early, or use your spidey senses to swoop up a table right when you see the tab being brought out. I don’t usually drink beer, but when I’m here, I do. Everything is good, just choose what your preference is and ask the bartender for suggestions.
As far as food goes, they used to have these meat cupcake things and they were delish, but I hear they don’t have it on the menu anymore. Such a shame, do you hear me Ballast Point big dogs? Shaaaame. The truffle fries are a must, who doesn’t love super hot, crispy, golden fries– or as I like to call them, sticks from heaven. Anywho, this place is really big and nice and they have a back patio that’s fun to hang with a large group. Oh, parking really sucks so either über (you should because you’re drinking riiiight? Riiiiiight), or get dropped off. Do not illegally park because I’ve seen some towing action occur this past visit and it’s not fun having your car towed. All in all, it’s the place to be!

OMG You can get a tour! It’s a free tour (no samples included since it’s free) that lasts 45 min to an hour where you get to learn all about how they brew their beer! It’s recommended that you call ahead to reserve your space. At the time we went, there were only 3 tours a day (12, 2 and 4) and when we got in around 12, the only tour available was the 4 pm one. We didn’t make it to the tour, but we got to see a tour take place through the glass from where we were seated.
The food was okay save for 2 items. The truffle fries have a strong truffle flavor and have the consistency of hash browns which I absolutely loved! Calamari wasn’t anything special. Salsa and guac was just okay (guac needed more salt, and I don’t ever say anything needs salt!). Tomato and four cheese pizza was okay (but delicious when dipped in soup mentioned next). The butternut squash soup was very unique. It tasted like curry but sweet (maybe coconut milk?) at the same time, it was delicious! Pretzel can be ordered without salt (internal WOOHOO!), it came with two dips, mustard and a housemade dip which had a beer infused cheese, but again, it was nothing special.
Beer menu is of course extensive. My favorite Ballast Point beer is the Victory at Sea, and they had many different flavors of Victory at Sea here. We got a sampler with orange and chocolate, cereal and chai. The most fragrant smelling of the three was the orange and chocolate. None of the three really had a strong taste of any of their named flavors, I think overall I might prefer just the regular Victory at Sea. The chai was the most unique of the three.
There is tons of seating inside, even some cozier couch type booths. This location is much bigger than the downtown SD location and there’s parking!!! Which is always a big plus.

Awesome place for every occasion, morning or night! This is a great place for a date, hanging out with you co-​workers, birthday party, etc. This place is HUGE!
If you are into great appetizers, plates, ales, IPAS, and porters this place is for you. This place is a whopping 100k square foot of goodness with a restaurant, lab, swag store, and tasting room. This location reeks high ceilings, high tables and chairs, bar, patio, lounge seating and tables.
Lunch might be a bit hectic even on the weekdays as people working in the Sorrento Valley area crowd up here, especially on Fridays (like .me!), so don’t expect peace and quiet. They are ALWAYS busy!
So many selection of beers, flights and amazing food.
I recommend on the lighter end their Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (comes with crostini). It is one of the top 3 butternut squash soup’s I’ve had. It is creamy and has an amazing flavor with a kick of spice. I love the decorated crostini (goat cheese, smoked bacon and fig) on top. I’m not a big fan of beets, but their Pickled Beet & Pear salad was pretty surprisingly good. The bleu cheese, walnuts and pancetta really rounded up the flavors of the ever so not liked beets by me. into a nice salad.
Now now, if you like pringles and hot cheetohs and you know what it does .(once you stop. you really can’t stop.), then their truffle fries needs to be ordered. It is an amazing set of truffle fries made with only Yukon potatoes, truffle oil and powder that seems to be deep fried/​flash fried as maintains the perfect crunch until the very end. They are SO addicting and goes in my top 3 of best truffle fries.
Their GrapeFruit award winning Sculpin is my favorite. It is a nice IPA with the essence of grapefruit. It is a pretty hoppy beer however, so don’t expect fruity sweet and super light.
I’ll be back!

Went around noon on a Monday. It was packed, almost standing room only in both the bar area and over 30 mins for a table. I overheard someone waiting at the door:
Woman: It’s a Monday. Does nobody have to be at work?
Her friend: Probably not. It is San Diego!
And because of this, breweries like Ballast Point sell for $ 1 billion (I said B, B as in BEER). Rightfully so. Here in the land of tourists, military personnel and college kids is where a 20 year old brewing company could continue to flourish. Delights like the Sculpin IPA and Wahoo White are available around the country and products of hard work and a hard drinking community with discerning palates (or maybe just looking to get drunk on great stuff).
The beer tasting menu is massive and well categorized. In the Herbs and Spices section lie kickers like the Habanbero Sculpin, the curried Export, the Grunion with (hot as eff) Chiles. These were hot and I’m utterly shocked at anyone finishing a full glass, despite a few sips being a lot of fun to try. I also tried the 100 IBU Tongue Buckler… not super convinced it was crazy bitter (see Russian River’s Pliny the Elder for comparison).
This location also had a rockin beer snack menu. mostly heavy apps to soak up suds but still a place to have a solid lunch. Despite no glasses to purchase (and couldn’t buy the beautiful tasting glasses!), I still highly recommend this location of Ballast Point to get the full experience.

Update — Came back for another business lunch and had a better experience this time around.
Service was great this time with several staffers coming by and taking beer orders and keeping the table clean. Perfect.
Pizza (Flatbread) — Was tasty but the bottom of the flatbread was dirty with black oven soot. This didn’t impact the taste, but your fingers get all dirty.
Fries — I was not of fan of the taste of those things
Fried Chicken — Cost prohibitive, but when you’re not paying it’s something to seriously consider. The chicken was crisp on the outside and nice and moist on the inside. The biscuit was a little thick, and veggies were good. Again, this is more $ 13 – 14 than 20 or whatever the price was.
Fries — Not good.

Came here on a Friday noon with coworkers and I got to say this place is pretty much flawless except for the parking situation. We all carpooled and had to find a parking spot about two blocks away from the brewery because there were just too many cars.
Moving on to the food, I absolutely love the duck nachos! The sauce alone was good enough to be called a dish, adding the duck was just amazing. Also, the mushroom flat bread was very good as well. However, I think this is a personal preference because they have goat cheese on it and its pungent smell and flavor is exactly what I like. We also ordered some pork belly and scampi pasta but nothing really champs the two dishes I just ranted about.
Service was good and prompt and I love the ambiance of the place. I had a beer with my boss’ and just had a great time in general. Definitely will be coming back!

It is difficult to say which craft beer brewery is the best in San Diego (Ballast Point vs. Stone), but all I can say about Ballast Point is that I was really impressed with everything Ballast Point had to offer — the environment, the food, and the beer!
The parking lot was pretty large but it was definitely difficult to find parking on a busy Saturday night. When we finally got inside, however, I was in complete awe of the place! The decorations were very artistic and gave off that modern ambiance. There was indoor and outdoor seating available, bar and lounge areas galore, and a bunch of television screens for sports fans everywhere!
We had dinner here for my boyfriend’s 30^th birthday and we were all happy with our orders! We all shared the pork belly mac ‘n cheese and the crispy duck nachos as appetizers and I got the rosemary fried chicken as the main meal. The pork belly mac ‘n cheese of white cheddar, butternut squash, and sage butter were to die for! We finished that heavenly goodness in less than five minutes because it was so damn good! If I could go back just to get this and a beer, I would do so in a heartbeat! The crispy duck nachos of blue cheese sauce, pickled onions, arugula, aport syrup were pretty good! The blue cheese sauce and duck meat were an interesting yet satisfying combination. Now for the rosemary fried chicken, it was okay at best! Althought a bit salty, the chicken tasted delicious and the biscuit was a great complement to the chicken.
As for the beers, I love the extensive menu from Ballast Point! My favorite beers were the Grapefruit Sculpin IPA and the Victory at Sea Imperial Porter. The Indra Kunindra Curry Export Stout was also there, but I was too full by the time I finished my meal.
Overall, I highly recommend craft beer lovers to try Ballast Point and make it an experience to remember!

By far one of the best gems found in San Diego. If you haven’t experienced Ballast Point, it is a must-​try!
Not only is the beer delicious, but the food is extraordinary as well. Ballast Point is always the best place to be to watch a game or to get together with a group of friends over craft-​brewed beer and food.
My personal food favorites are the truffle fries (they use truffle powder that’s to die for) and the beer-​steamed mussels. Be mentally prepared that it comes with a LOT of mussels! For beer favorites, I love the Chocolate Stout — NITRO, it’s light and easy to drink.
The best thing about Ballast Point is that you can order «tasters,» which are only $ 2! I usually like to order 2 – 4 of these, so I can try the wide variety that they offer.
In addition to the products, their ambiance fantastic with a bar, large restaurant seating area, and a patio. The décor is artistic and gives a cool vibe.

Definitely a superb place for beer tasting!!! Price cannot be beat here! 3 – 4 oz. beer for $ 5…seriously! I’m not into beers but I definitely found quite a few that were tolerable here. The flavors too, so many too choose from. My favorite was Calm after the storm which had a a coffee late taste in it… oh yeah, i dranke three glasses of those haha!
This ain’t just a beer tasting place obviously. They also have a full menu for food for the whole fam. We came on black friday and it was pretty packed here, my group didnt want to wait so we just sat on the bar and drank beer lol.

When the beer AND food is on point… You gotta come here!
Huge selection of their different types of beer. Cheap!
I love the ambiance! It’s a perfect place to grab a drink, walk around, lounge and hang out! The patio is nice too. There’s a bar outside as well!
Food is a little overpriced here BUT everything is sooooo good!!! I recommend:
— the duck confit nachos
— pork belly mac & cheese
— truffle fries!!! (Perfectly crispy!)
The perfect combination with beer!!!
Downfall: Parking lot gets full and sometimes it’s difficult to find parking at night, so you end up parking far on the street.

I’ve been to this Ballast Point location numerous times with my wife and friends and it never disappoints. On the most recent trip Arizona State vs. Cal football was going on and the staff was super accommodating in putting the game on. Compared to the Home Brew Mart, I feel like this place is more of the complete package when it comes to the experience. Indoor/​outdoor seating, bar & lounge areas, many large TVs for sports not to mention a view through giant windows of the brewery next door.
The only usual issue with this location is the parking. There have been times in which I have been lucky and found parking in the small lot in front of the brewery, but then again there have also been times where I’ve had to park a block or so away and walk it. All depends on the day and time you decide to visit.
Finally, to the beers. I always try to get at least some tasters of the R&Ds since you can’t find em anywhere else. Of course you also can’t go wrong with the Sculpins or Sextant Oatmeal Stout. Whatever your beer preference, you will definitely find the right one for you here. Cheers!